Work Text:
On Arundhati's birthday, her roommates threw her a house party.
She just wanted to have a quiet and peaceful celebration with her friends. But, to her dismay, they had called all their friends to join her. However, she did not complain as she did not want to be ungrateful.
Sienna & Elijah took upon the responsibility of baking the cake and arranging the food and drinks. Meanwhile, Jackie & Landry looked after the decorations and invitations.
Landry saw this as an excellent opportunity to talk to, impress and meet his idol, Dr. Ethan Ramsey, outside the hospital. So, he sent an invitation to him separately, without letting anyone know about it.
Ethan was shocked to see a bright and colorful envelope in his mailbox. He was almost going to throw it away when he read a part of the text written in the front.
It read, "You are cordially invited to Arundhati's Birthday Party!"
That piece of text made him open the envelope with newfound interest.
After a few minutes of conflict in his mind, he decided to throw caution to the wind and attend the party.
He regretted his decision the moment he stepped into the apartment but decided to stay for a while. He thought of meeting the birthday girl and then leaving immediately so that he could avoid everyone else.
Ethan looked around, but he could not see Arundhati anywhere, so he decided to go to the balcony to get some peace and be away from the crowd and loud noises.
When he entered, he saw Aru there, nursing a bottle of wine, looking a bit gloomy.
"Rookie, I want to wish you a happy birthday. May you have a good year, full of success and happiness. Here's a little something I got for you", he said, handing her a copy of his book, consisting of his autograph. He also got her a bouquet of her favorite flowers, which were sunflowers.
"Thanks a lot for this, Dr. Ramsey. How did you know my favorite flowers?"
"Nothing but simple observation, Rookie."
"Ah, I see. Looks like I need to learn this skill from you", she said jokingly.
"What's wrong, Rookie? Why are you not celebrating your birthday with everyone outside?"
"Dr. Ramsey, what are you doing here? I mean, how did you know about this party?"
"One of your friends sent me an invitation," as soon as he said that he saw Aru give him a cute smile, which made him smile.
"What are you smiling about?" Ethan asked after he schooled back his expression.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think you want to be here and mingle with people much younger than you, that too outside of work."
"You are right about that. I figured out that meeting you and staying here for a while would be sufficient."
"Well, to answer your question. I just wanted to chill out with my friends and have a movie night. But when they thought of arranging a party, I could not refuse them."
"Aru, where are you? Come on, it is time to cut the cake!"
"Rookie, one of your friends is calling you," Ethan said when he observed that she wasn't responding.
"Yeah, I heard her. I just don't want to go in a group full of unknown faces."
"I'm coming with you, so let's get going before they start more chaos."
"Thanks, Dr. Ramsey."
Arundhati could only cut her cake in front of everyone when she saw her friends and Ethan. They gave her a lot of confidence and prevented her from being alone and missing her family.
After the cake was cut and food was served, Aru went to chat with her friends.
"Thanks a lot for arranging this party, you guys."
"Are you kidding, Aru? This is the first time you have celebrated your birthday away from home. So, we have to support you and look after you. Now, don't be sappy and enjoy the party," said Sienna.
As the night progressed, Bryce started introducing the different games he had planned to his friends.
Ethan retreated back to the balcony to avoid interacting with a bunch of interns on his time off.
"Enjoying some peace, Dr. Ramsey?" Aru's words were slurring as she came back to the balcony.
"Yeah, some much-needed peace."
"Why do you not like us interns?"
"Honestly speaking, I find interns boisterous and full of themselves even when they know nothing about the world. That really irks me."
"Do you like me?" she questioned absentmindedly, before realising what she blurted out.
"I should get going. I have an early shift tomorrow, and my hangovers are worse than they used to be before. I'll see you tomorrow at work, Dr. Kulkarni," he said, completely avoiding her question.
"Is this how you deal with your feelings, Ramsey? Pathetic. You should know better by now. How will you face her in the morning without embarrassing yourself completely?", he thought as he left the place, without looking back at Arundhati.